Credibility of a Website???

I chose to validate the credibility of http://www.dhmo.org/

The domain name .org would allow you to think that they have a lot of information on what is being presented, but it would also warn you that there could be a huge bias. The author is the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division and United States Environmental Assessment Center which would definitely add to the websites credibility. There is contact info to email the organization. Their goal and purpose is stated to provide information through an unbiased data clearinghouse and open public forum for discussion. I think this adds to the websites credibility of reliable information. They are trying to stress that they are presenting facts and data based on research that is unbiased. It is affiliated with many other credible organizations and there are links to these organizations on the site. The missions and goals are clearly identified, but there is no personal staff or officers to identify or contact. This website is trying to reach citizens who want informed on an issue. The advertisements on the website don't seem to lessen its credibility or value, they seem to be normal ads and keep the sites validity. This site is current and updated daily. All the information and research seems credible and reliable on the website, but there is no way of researching where it came from and who it came from. My overall review of this website would be that it is a valid website but I wouldn't be giving a clear cut recommendation to someone because of a few red flags. It just seems fishy to me that there is no individual to be contacted or accredited with any of this info or research. Also, the fact that we can't identify where the research is coming from or who exactly it is coming from raises some concerns. I think this site passes the majority of the validity test, but fails in some of the most important aspects which would make lead to believe that it is in fact biased and its credibility is somewhat lacking. You can't judge a book by its cover saying fits this website perfectly. To the common information consumer most of this would go unnoticed, but we can now know how to identify whether a source is reliable or not. My vote for this website would be that it is not valid and reliable.

21st century writing

I still think schools are doing a much better job of incorporating technology and preparing the students to take new modern jobs in the real world as they leave high school. This wasn't the case when I was in high school, but there has been a big push from administrative levels and the government to make learning more technology based. There are many things that can hamper having students prepared for jobs in the 21st century. Many concens with preparing them properly can be the costly aspect of instituting technology throughout the schools and also keeping the technology up to date. Also, administrators and teachers have to understand and be trained in this technology which is also very costly. The important thing is that education continues to progress and adapt to the world around us.

The pictures in these articles are so different and they directed towards portraying a certain image of this situation based on their writing. The first picture shows Obama upbeat with others ready to fight the crisis. The picture is also taken from a distance in the first picture, his body language is confident and the angle of the picture lets you see a broad view of the scene. All these things lead to the message the author wants to get across. In the first article and picture they want to focus on Obama being strong and fighting the battle with plenty of help, they all look confident and ready to work. The camera angle and distance let you know that this just isn't Obama's problem and Obama alone won't be able to fix the problem.

The Second picture portrays Obama distressed and he is the only one in the picture. The angle is looking down on him and his body language isn't confident. In this picture they use all of the same techniques as the first to get the point of their article across. They are trying to portray that this is just Obama's problem and he alone has to fix it for his future success. Him being alone in the picture stresses that along with the facial expressions and body language of the photograph. They are trying to isolate Obama in this picture to get their point across.



Lesson plan that develops critical media literacy

Here is a link to the website with the lesson plan....
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/magazine-redux-exercise-critical-214.html

 This activity will help students learn to pick up media messages that are a part of our everyday lives. They will also learn about the differences between a print magazine and its online counterpart to develop their critical media literacy. They should be able to pick up why an online counterpart of a magazine may market to a younger audience or a more technical savvy audience. Realizing the differences of things like this will help them recognize why other forms of media use different techniques and advertising to reach a certain audience. They will learn that alot of it is based on selling products to the type of consumer that is reading the media.